Proletarian Protectors
by WolfgangtheBlack
Summary: The Titans meet another superhero group... only with a twist. This isn't as deep as my last TT fic.
1. Such a Normal Day

Chapter One: Such a Normal Day  
  
There was nothing beyond the words. Even though the world was empty, the words were so full. The words perfected the emptiness. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos," Raven chanted. All things came into focus in the place where there was nothing.  
  
There was one feeling which she probably shouldn't have pushed from her mind, however. That was the fear of being startled out of her trance. That fear was logically based. It had happened many other times, after all. The reason she shouldn't have pushed it out was, simply, that it was about to happen.  
  
"Raven!" yelled Beast Boy. The world of silence shattered.  
  
Raven fell from the place where she had been levitating and landed on the couch with Beast Boy sitting immediately next to her. She looked up and suppressed the power to incinerate something. The shape shifter had a camera in one hand which was undoubtedly focused on her face. She had only the smallest amount of time to do all this, as Beast Boy quickly took a picture.  
  
Raven had no idea why he had the flash on when the lighting was adequate. Her composure was shattered for a second, but nothing caught fire in that time. Raven rubbed out the spots which floated in front of her eyes. She could feel anger bubbling to the surface and contained it to a visible aura. Dark flames whipped around head. She let the action speak for her.  
  
"Maybe you should wait until let Raven know beforehand about any pictures you're going to take," Robin said. He sat at the kitchenette with a sandwich as he watched the pair.  
  
"What are you doing with that camera, any way?" Raven asked as she allowed the flames dissipate.  
  
"It's my new hobby. I'm gonna be a photographer when I get older," Beast Boy said.  
  
"You're already a superhero. Is that not enough for you to be when you grow up?"  
  
"I could be one in my spare time. Like, 'superhero by day and famous photographer by night, he searches the world for crime and pretty things,' or something."  
  
Raven shook her head and didn't realize that Beast Boy had just called her pretty. She closed her eyes and had just started to tune things out when an unfamiliar siren when off.  
  
Starfire flew into the main room and said, "What is it? I do not recognize this new alarm."  
  
Cyborg, who had been uncharacteristically quiet while reading a comic book, checked a control panel. "Someone's calling for help."  
  
"That doesn't sound too different from other occasions," Raven said.  
  
"It's not just anyone who can set off this one," Cyborg said. "Another superhero needs help." 


	2. A World of Danger

Chapter Two: A World of Danger  
  
"Can you get us any more information than that?" Robin asked as he put the remaining half of his sandwich away.  
  
"I can tell you where it is and that they're putting it on high-priority," Cyborg said. "Other than that, your guess is as good as mine."  
  
"What are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Beast Boy said.  
  
"You might want to put that camera away before we go," Raven said.  
  
"Yes, we do not want it to be damaged," Starfire said.  
  
"Yeah. Damaged. That's it," Raven muttered, remembering the flash in the face. She got on her feet and ran after the already-mobilized Robin and Cyborg.  
  
******  
  
They flew, ran, and galloped over to the source of the distress call. When they finally arrived at the docks, they saw police in riot gear surrounding a red spider about the size of a tank. The police kept a large space, as they were keeping bystanders away more than they were trying to fight it. The arachnid was tearing apart loading equipment and throwing it into the water and against buildings.  
  
"Where's the guy who called for help?" Robin called to Cyborg, who shrugged.  
  
"I think we better take care of that thing first," Beast Boy said.  
  
It let out a shriek, as if it knew from what Beast Boy had said that a fight was beginning. Raven focused and levitated one of the cranes it had thrown so she could place it down before the flying lifter damaged a building. Starfire launched her signature ammunition at the beast, which was taken aback by the volley. The resident shape shifter dove into the nearby water and changed into a giant squid. From there he attempted to grapple the creature with the reach of his many tentacles. Robin and Cyborg both charged in for a physical assault. Once Beast Boy had pinned all its legs, the fighters easily subdued it.  
  
With the skirmish over, the combatants relaxed. All relaxed except, of course, for Robin.  
  
"Who sent us that call? If someone calls for backup, you're supposed to keep fighting yourself and just wait for reinforcements," the Boy Wonder stated.  
  
"If I had answers, I'd share them," Cyborg said. A second later, screams were heard in the distance and the police rushed off in that direction. "Sounds like another job for us while we're thinking about it."  
  
******  
  
Starfire never got the chance to land before they moved out again. She just got a wave from Beast Boy, who had climbed out of the water as himself, to head towards the mall. She had only been there a few times before, and each time it had been a bundle of chaotic groups of shoppers. However, it had never been so frenzied as it was now. Swarms of the same sort of spiders she had just helped to dispatch were crawling over every wall and plowing through every hallway.  
  
She was the first to see the sight, but she soon heard multiple "whoa"s on the ground and from Raven who joined her in the air.  
  
"What should we do? There are so many!" Starfire said.  
  
"We might want to split up for this," Robin said. "Star, you and Raven sweep the mall of them from top to bottom. Cyborg, BB, you guys go with me and take them from the bottom up."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Cyborg said. Suddenly, a small siren sound let out from his forearm. He opened up the panel and checked, but everyone recognized the sound this time. "They're calling us again," Cyborg said. "To right over there." He pointed to the mall.  
  
******  
  
Thanks for sticking with me, people. I know the chapters are short, but I just want to keep updates consistent. I ought to put out a chapter every week or two. Feel free to let me know what you think by reviewing. Oh, and I almost forgot-  
  
LEGAL DISCLAIMER- I do not own the Teen Titans. Don't sue. I don't have all that much that you would get out of such a case any way- unless you're maybe looking for a writer? What? You can't blame me for trying. 


	3. Cloaked in Dust

Chapter Three: Cloaked in Dust  
  
"I guess they aren't as fast right now," Beast Boy stated.  
  
"How do we know that this isn't a trap? That they didn't just steal the panic button of someone important?" Robin asked.  
  
Cyborg shook his head and closed the panel. "It wouldn't be that simple. First, they would have to be on Justice League wavelength. Second, there's a very long and complex code that would trigger the alarm. Third, it's been encrypted with codes that-"  
  
"Okay, we get it," Beast Boy said. "It's real."  
  
"And the danger is also real," Starfire said as she looked at the mall.  
  
Robin sighed and finally mumbled, "Titans, move out."  
  
******  
  
"Now we finally get to visit the mall together, friend Raven!"  
  
"Uh, this really isn't the best way to act out that little fantasy, I don't think," Raven said. She was in the process of removing a lock from the roof- access door while Starfire was blasting one of the smaller spiders.  
  
Using starbolts to push the arachnid off the roof, the redhead went on, "But I have waited for this day for so long! I have read so much about 'hanging' at the mall and I wish to do so very badly."  
  
Raven shrugged off the sign of affection and said, "The lock's off, finally. They really aren't cutting corners on security here."  
  
"Aside from letting many mean spiders in," Starfire said.  
  
After a moment of hesitation, Raven said, "Good point. How are we going to get rid of these things, any way?"  
  
"From the pictures I have seen, malls are made of narrow hallways, stores, and high ledges over the large, open court of food and ring of skating. If we draw them up to the top of the mall, we can push them off the ledges like I did with that one just now."  
  
"You really have been studying the mall a lot, haven't you?"  
  
Starfire nodded vigorously and headed inside. Raven took a cleansing breath and followed.  
  
******  
  
A green elephant charged down the main hallway of the mall, plowing through a dozen spiders. Just behind the powerful pachyderm, the team leader delivered flying kicks to eight-eyed heads. Cyborg provided cover fire for the therianthropic warrior. After just four of the spiders were defeated, the others retreated.  
  
A civilian poked his head out of a shoe store and said, "Are they gone?"  
  
Robin nodded and waved him out. A small group of mall-goers followed him and ran out of the building. Beast Boy switched back to his natural form.  
  
"You think there are more inside?" the shape shifter asked.  
  
"If the ones so close to the door got caught in here, I don't think the ones closer inside are any better off," Robin said. "We'd better check all the stores as we go through." Inhuman shrieks were heard from down the hall. "I guess that means they know we're here."  
  
******  
  
Musak drifted down the halls along with a kayak shrouded in darkness. Raven pulled the boat from a sporting goods store to use as a battering ram of sorts. Starfire admired stores as the heroes passed them.  
  
"We must remember to go by there later. That place interests me as well. What is lingerie, friend Raven? The pictures outside that store are very pretty."  
  
Raven, in turn, answered each comment. "Whatever. That's nice. Don't ask. Sure thing. What happened to all those spiders, any way?"  
  
"Perhaps they fear us or are going to fight Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg."  
  
"Something's not right."  
  
"I thought that large spiders weren't supposed to be at the mall. Why would them being gone suddenly be not right?"  
  
"What? No, I don't- It's just that- wait, what? No, I mean-" Raven was stumbling with how to explain her previous statement, but at that moment they were attacked.  
  
The spiders burst out from the windows which were covered in posters. They all jumped out simultaneously and began the attack just as fast. Some circled around to block off exit while others leaped straight from the shards of the windows onto the girls. The small boat which Raven had taken earlier was useful in swatting away the monstrosities. Starfire, however immediately had to grapple with one of the spiders.  
  
The fright of the moment dispelled the feelings which supported her flight. Starfire hit the ground and more of the spiders crawled over her. Raven made her best attempts to assist her teammate, but the spell caster had an offensive going on against her at the time.  
  
Just as the spiders seemed to get the upper hand over the pair, a distant boom could be heard. Feet marching in synchronization beat rhythmically against the sticky tile floor. The spiders began to scramble away from the sound, giving Raven and Starfire an opening to beat back the many-jointed creatures. Starfire threw the last of the spiders off and looked to where she had heard the sound. Reinforcements wearing police riot gear marched shoulder to shoulder down the passage.  
  
"Oh, thank you, nice officers who scare the spiders!" the now-free Starfire said. The marchers stood silent and still for a moment.  
  
Raven, however, was not so grateful. "Starfire," she said, "that's not the police." 


	4. The Bite

Author's Notes: Thanks for bearing with me, people. I know it's been a while since I last updated. I'm not going to give you any excuses, though.

I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans does not own me- legally, at the very least.

It may be a while until I get the next chapter done, so I ask your patience on that as well. Without further delay, here's the next installment of the story.

Chapter Four: The Bite

"Cyborg! Behind you!"

The mountain of metal turned around just in time to snatch a giant spider by its fangs. It forced its weight against Cyborg, but he held his ground against the offending arachnid. After pushing it back for a few moments, he stepped to the side and let the spider's momentum to throw it into another attacking monster.

The eight-legged monstrosities had been attacking _en masse_ for several minutes. They crawled across every wall and surrounded the trio.

"Where are all these guys coming from?" Cyborg yelled over a chitter-chitter-chitter sound of great volume.

"I think the food court!" Robin yelled back. His standard martial arts techniques weren't very effective (they were designed mostly for humans, after all), so he kept his distance and threw his varied projectile weapons.

"Food court, you say?" Beast Boy yelled back. "Why didn't you just say so?" With a moment of stretching and shifting, he transformed into a rhinoceros. Smashing through waves of spiders, he plowed a path for his bipedal companions.

Cyborg and Robin ran through quickly, but not without leaving a few small explosions in their wake. However, the impact of the great feat vanished quickly as the spiders swarmed in for the opportunity to strike again.

The food court was full of spiders eating the leftover meals of absent mall goers. However, when the boys made their way to roughly the center of the room, there was a high shriek which made all the spiders stop in their tracks. The boys paused and took up a defense formation, preparing for the next assault.

The spiders, however, left. They made no great show of it, they simply turned towards the exits and all scuttled out. Beast Boy was confused by it; he stood still with his mouth hanging open. Robin was cautious of it; he stepped out from where he had been and looked around. Cyborg was-

"Yeah! That's right! Mess with the best and you go down like the rest!" Cyborg yelled after the swarm.

"Something's not right," Robin said.

"I thought that giant spiders in the food court wasn't right," Beast Boy said.

"What? No- well, yes, but the- I mean about that retreat. I don't get why they'd do that."

"Because they must have known they couldn't beat us," Cyborg said. He then became distracted and said, "Aw, man! They wrecked the Pork Pot! It was the only one on this side of town!"

Beast Boy muttered a tasteless comment about 'pigging out', but his remark went unheard.

"I don't know," Robin said. He became absorbed in his assessment of what the spiders were doing as Cyborg ranted about what they had done. It was Beast Boy, however, who first noticed something crucial.

"Hey- do you hear that?" the shape changer asked his companions.

"Hear what?" Robin asked. His eyes widened under his mask when he heard it.

"The Shoe Shack! They ruined the Shoe Shack! That's the only kind of clothes that-"Cyborg was stunned into silence by the sound. "Guys, what's that sound?"

The distant noise was a sustained whoosh sound followed by a snap- like rope being drawn taut, or a whip being cracked. That was followed by the groaning of metal being put under stress. This sequence repeated, growing louder- nay, closer- each time.

"That can't be good," Beast Boy stated.

Starfire took a step back from the people in riot gear. "What do you mean, 'that's not the police'?"

Raven was still and stunned as she said, "The police have different uniforms, even while in riot gear." She stepped back. "These guys aren't wearing any."

"So then," Starfire said, still walking back, "who are these people?"

Before the heroine could get an answer, beneath her feet she heard a whoosh sound. The floor was ripped up in a line perpendicular to the hallway by a strand of silk just a few inches thick.. It was pulled straight, making a resounding snapping sound. The line put stress on the supports, making a groaning sound.

Behind the line of marchers, a second strand sprung forth from the ground. Yet another sprung up on the opposite side of Raven and Starfire. The sequence of sounds repeated, but this time it was punctuated with a cracking sound. A few spilled drops of water from someone's drink rolled across the tiles, as the floor began to tilt. The hallway between the two strands rotated, then fell away.

Even if the two Titans had had the time to take flight, the wall once on their left would have smashed into them any way.

"If you're planning on going to the mall today, change your plans now."

The news crews were maintaining a safe distance via helicopter. Enterprising reporters, however, considered that maybe this would be the chance to shine as had been desperately waited for, but so many did so that none stood out.

"We're entering the third hour of the crisis and there's yet to be any signal from the Teen Titans that there's going to be any- wait! What's that?"

Needle-like spires grew forth from the streets around the shopping center. Dangling threads connected to the claw structures were suddenly drawn tight, ripping though the foundation, walls, and ceiling. The roof began to crumble, and the glistening silky web was visible from the sky.

Well, thanks again for sticking with me. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still writing the story.


End file.
